bus1
[buhs]
- a large motor vehicle, having a long body, equipped with seats or benches for passengers, usually operating as part of a scheduled service; omnibus.
- a similar horse-drawn vehicle.
- a passenger automobile or airplane used in a manner resembling that of a bus.
- any vehicle operated to transport children to school.
- a low, movable filing cabinet.
- Electricity. Also called bus bar, bus·bar [buhs-bahr] /ˈbʌsˌbɑr/. a heavy conductor, often made of copper in the shape of a bar, used to collect, carry, and distribute powerful electric currents, as those produced by generators.
- Computers. a circuit that connects the CPU with other devices in a computer.
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- to convey or transport by bus: to bus the tourists to another hotel.
- to transport (pupils) to school by bus, especially as a means of achieving socioeconomic or racial diversity among students in a public school.
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- to travel on or by means of a bus: We bused to New York on a theater trip.
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- throw under the bus. throw(def 57).
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Origin of bus1
bus2
[buhs]
- to work or act as a busboy or busgirl: She bused for her meals during her student days.
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Origin of bus2
First recorded in 1830–40; back formation from busboy
bus.
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Mosbacher
[maws-bak-er, mos-]
- Emil, Jr.Bus, 1922–1997, U.S. yacht racer and government official.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for bus
Contemporary Examples
Occasionally a pamphlet for a salsa class might be tossed on a doorstop or stuck on a pole near a bus stop.
The detectives learned early on that Brinsley had arrived by bus in Manhattan.
At the music studio, Brinsley would arrive by train or bus to break into the music scene.
In the video, the bus is getting searched by a cop with a German shepherd.
A few children, settler children, congregate near what appears to have been the bus station.
Historical Examples
He had hoped that they would walk home or that they would get on to a 'bus!
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
A 'bus drove up as he reached the corner, and he climbed into it.
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
"That's a nice day," he said, when the 'bus had gone some distance.
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
The 'bus was now rolling over London Bridge, and the Cathedral could not be seen.
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
"You 'op on top, an' I'll tell you where to git off," the 'bus conductor said, and John did as he was bid.
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
bus
- a large motor vehicle designed to carry passengers between stopping places along a regular routeMore formal name: omnibus Sometimes called: motorbus
- short for trolleybus
- (modifier) of or relating to a bus or busesa bus driver; a bus station
- informal a car or aircraft, esp one that is old and shaky
- electronics computing short for busbar
- the part of a MIRV missile payload containing the re-entry vehicles and guidance and thrust devices
- astronautics a platform in a space vehicle used for various experiments and processes
- miss the bus to miss an opportunity; be too late
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- to travel or transport by bus
- mainly US and Canadian to transport (children) by bus from one area to a school in another in order to create racially integrated classes
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Word Origin
C19: short for omnibus
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for bus
n.
1832, abbreviation of omnibus (q.v.). The modern English noun is nothing but a Latin dative plural ending. To miss the bus, in the figurative sense of "lose an opportunity," is from 1901, Australian English (OED has a figurative miss the omnibus from 1886). Busman's holiday "leisure time spent doing what one does for a living" (1893) is probably a reference to London bus drivers riding the buses on their days off.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper